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Guinea’s wounded president flown to Morocco after shooting
Communication Minister Idrissa Cherif declined to elaborate on Camara’s wounds, saying only that they were not life-threatening and that Camara would undergo further tests in Morocco. Camara had breakfast with his closest aides and is “walking and talking and doing fine,” Cherif said.
“He had an audience with us just before leaving,” Cherif said. “Everything is under control.”
Several people, though, said the president had suffered a bullet wound to the head. Guinea’s communication minister denied those reports.
The government had earlier said that Camara was shot on Thursday by Abubakar “Toumba” Diakite, who commands the presidential guard. A rift had opened between the two following a September massacre during which human rights groups say presidential guard members killed at least 157 unarmed civilians at a pro-democracy rally.
A senior civil servant who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press, said that he had spoken to members of the military who confirmed that Camara was in serious condition from a head wound. A retired diplomat, who also asked that his name not be used for the same reason, said that he, too, had spoken to the coup leader’s aides who said that Camara was bleeding from the head.
The 45-year-old Camara was shot while at a military camp housing hundreds of men under Toumba’s control, Cherif said. Camara had driven to Camp Koundara to confront Toumba after Toumba went to a downtown police station and released officers that were loyal to him but whom Camara had ordered arrested, said Cherif. Cherif declined to say how many people had been arrested in the ongoing investigation. He confirmed that Toumba was still at large along with a contingent of his men.
Thursday’s attack underscored the deep divide inside the military clique that grabbed control of Guinea last December following the death of the country’s longtime dictator, Lansana Conte.
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